Sunday
Feb092014
I Just Can't Help Myself
Sunday, February 9, 2014 at 12:01AM Since I just posted about Bret Michaels, I hate to do it again so soon, but I just can't help myself. He was just interviewed for Kindle Love Stories and I swear his hair looks more ridiculous than ever. Plus, dude is giving relationship advice. The segment is for Valentine's week, but come on: should we really be taking serious love advice from Bret? You'll just have to humor me on this one. Happy Sunday!
Reader Comments (21)
At this point, I am really not sure what he supposes that stringy faux-di-locks look accomplishes. And, as a man with dome issues myself, I really could care less. Wear a beanie (Schenker does), throw on a cap (good enough for Meine and Johnson); heck, buy a full-on wig (DuBrow and JLT feel fine with hair hats), or place a smattering of more permanent plugs into the mix (Hammett gets by just fine).
But here's a thought: why not go the Halford route and just flaunt what you (don't) got? This isn't some Tale of Samson. Speaking of which, his love advice seems about as weak as his continued attempts at grabbing cash. At least he abides by "the rule of three" when crafting a catchy (and cringe-worthy) take on how to keep love alive.
The subject of this interview is crazy. But Bret truly knows his audience. Lonely wife, divorcee who clings to his every word. Rich dude he is cuz there are a lot of them.
Bless him for striking it rich
He probably could have made even more had he done it the hard way as opposed to signing anything some sleazebag puts in front of him.
Even $immons is more discerning than this guy when it comes to trading on his name AND the name of his band.
Originally, when Michaels was riding high with Poison off the first couple of albums, his cartoonish pretty boy persona was perfect to front such a great L.A. Glam Metal band.
Now he's a cartoon of a cartoon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vstSm7R6WyE
Seriously, I really like the guy, even thought I always called the other 3 members of Poison "my friends", while Bret was always just "an acquaintance". There's a certain "d-bag factor" about him that just won't go away, and it's sad that while Poison had some level of a legacy that they could continue to live off of, Bret is overshadowing it with his lame shilling & pathetic douchebaggery. I really feel bad for C.C., Bob, & Rikki that their band is being subjected to this.
Here's the REAL Big 4:
1) Mötley Crüe
2) RATT
3) Cinderella
4) Poison
We almost completely agree on something Metalboy!
I'm Shocked!
My big 4 is just slightly different:
1.Motley Crue
2.Hanoi Rocks
3.Ratt
4.Poison
W/regards to Poison,
Me personally I think their first 3 CD's are glam metal gold.
They've only done 3 other full length studio albums.
'Swallow This Live':I love the concert & the 4 new songs are killer. "No More Lookin Back" is a bada$$ rocker. "Souls On Fire" is a pretty cool song as well.
'Native Tongue':The only standout tracks for me on that CD are "Body Talk", "Ain't That The Truth" & "Theatre Of My Soul" ("Stand" is good but it's kinda played out for me). The rest of the songs are good except for "Bastard Son Of A Thousand Blues" that song is just atrocious. Overall the is just OK to me, it's the only Poison album I don't own. I used to have it on cassette tape but never bothered to buy it on CD once I started buying CD's.
'Crack A Smile':I think it's actually pretty good. It has a bit of the old school Poison flare to it. I think Blues Saraceno was a better fit for Poison. A couple of the songs are complete duds on this CD & some pretty good songs but "Best Thing You Ever Had", "Baby Gets Around A Bit", "Sexual Thing" & "Lay Your Body Down" are better than anything off of 'Native Tongue'.
'Power To The People':I love the concert & I like 4 out of the 5 new songs. I could of really done w/out "Last Song" but "Power To The People" is a pretty catchy song. "I Hate Every Bone In Your Body But Mine" is bada$$, it reminds me of old school Poison but w/C.C singing (I really don't mind his singing at all).
'Hollyweird':I think it's actually pretty good (but it still has a couple duds). "Hollyweird", "Squeeze Box", "Get Me Some" & "Livin In The Now" all sound like vintage Poison to me. Had the CD been full of songs like these, I would have easily put it right up their w/the first 3 studio albums.
'Poison'd':This all covers CD is hit & miss just like pretty much every other covers CD. My 2 favorites are "Just What I Needed" & "What I like About You". The only song I could have completely done w/out was "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" that song is just plain awful. Even w/it having been recorded when Poison was in their prime didn't help it one bit.
For me they had:
3 killer studio albums.
2 great live albums w/some great new tracks.
& some great songs sprinkled in the last 3 studio CD's they put out.
I have no problem w/putting Poison in my big 4.
My runner up (5th place) would be Warrant (Strictly the Jani Lane stuff).
My big four is also somewhat of a remix of yours and Metalboy!'s
1-Hanoi Rocks
2-Motley Crue
3-Ratt
4-Warrant
"Poor Boy Blues" and "Bastard Son Of A Thousand Blues" are just stupid as hell songs. Everything after "Swallow This Live" is hit or miss but they do have some hidden gems within those albums.
Here are my(Un)prestigious BIG 4 of glam/sleaze metal-
1.Motley Crue
2.Ratt
3.Hanoi Rocks
4.Faster Pussycat
Regardless, I agree with every one of those four . . . even if splitting it into decades might make for a fun additional discussion (and bring in a few additional bands/performers like _[The] Sweet_ or even _T. Rex_ and _The NY Dolls_). I don't suppose this sort of agreement on things is always going to be likely!
And I understand Metalboys! list too. But I think that Cinderella are too blues-based to fit in (though the label did try to make them fit in, appearance-wise). Poison? They just seem lucky to me, a second-tier band with some catchy songs that don't have the tightness and swagger of even FP's "Bathroom Wall." Good band, memorable songs (heck, I even like "Ride the Wind"!??!). Just not of the caliber that the other bands (even if they still reside above FP and below MC in terms of [waning] attention from outside the orbit of their fans) suggest.
And, Jakki S., I have to admit that, over the long arc of time, I have grown more and more impressed with Lane-era _Warrant_. I used to hate them (as if that matters/d). But I continue to struggle with where they fit in sub-genre-wise.
However, since they started pre-1980, I'm leaving 'em off. Plus, if you listen to 'em, they're music really isn't all that Glam, and way less so than Cinderella. So let me qualify, if I must...
The Big 4 of 80's Glam Metal Bands
And I would not subtract Cinderella. They had the "look" way BEFORE they got signed. And their first album is TOTAL Glam! Even how each song on "Long Cold Winter" has sheer Glam integrated into it's sound and chord structure make that album PURE GLAM.
Listen to the main riffs for the proof.
Also, "Don't Know What You Got ('Til It's Gone)" is one of...
"The Top 5 Glam Metal Power Ballads of All Time":
1) "Home Sweet Home", Crüe
2) "Don't Know What Ya Got ('Til It's Gone)", Cinderella
3) "Every Rose Has It's Thorn", Poison
4) "Heaven", Warrant
5) "Sweet Child O' Mine", Guns'n'Roses (yep, they're Glam)
Honourable mention: Even though RATT come in at #2 in MY Big 4, "Giving Yourself Away" ain't as recognizable or as Glam as the Powerballads mentioned above.
p.s. LOVE Faster Pussycat but they jumped on the bandwagon a little later, so leavin' 'em Out of my Big 4. Same goes for Warrant and Pretty Boy Floyd, even though they are TOTAL Glam!
I love 'Cherry Pie', 'Dog Eat Dog', 'Ultraphobic' & 'Belly To Belly', they are all excellent CD's to me. They all have glam metal songs sprinkled in them but none of them are straight up glam metal like 'Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich'
I never understood why some people think 'Ultraphobic' & 'Belly To Belly' have a grunge sound to them.
'Ultraphobic' is kinda similar to 'DRFSR', just full of rockers w/only 2 true ballads.
The song 'Ultraphobic' is very glam metal in my opinion.
'Belly To Belly' reminds me of a experimental version of 'Dog Eat Dog'.
"In The End" & "Feels Good" are 2 overlooked gems.
Metalboy!
My list wasn't limited to just 1980's bands. I just picked bands that fit in to the genre of glam metal, no matter when they got their start.
Technically, didn't Ratt start out in the late 1970's when they were originally called Mickey Ratt.
Hanoi Rocks are very glam metal to me.
'Back To Mystery City' is a classic glam metal CD in my eyes.
Cinderella's first CD is the only one I like.
I agree w/Him, the rest of their CD's are too blues based for me to consider them glam.
*None of my choices are ever based on how the bands look, that is never a factor for me when I make lists like this.
Slaughter was pretty much just a regular "T shirt & jeans" band but 'Stick It To Ya' & 'Wild Life' are classic glam metal CD's.
I just go strictly by the music.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "order of importance" but yes, those would be my Big 4 in the order of how much I love them. I don't know if that answered your question or not?
With Faster Pussycat:
I am only talking about the first 3 CD's they have (also I have 2 EP's by them with a handful of rare/unreleased songs). The rest of the stuff has nothing whatsoever to do with the real Faster Pussycat. Of the stuff they have come out with after the original run by the band, all I have is the live CD "Front Row For The Donkey Show" simply only because I wanted a live CD by them.
Taime Downe really annoys me with what he is doing with the band name. Faster Pussycat is just the Newlydeads using the Faster Pussycat name.
Both bands have become a big joke to me. Taime effectively destroyed the value of both bands by essentially mixing them together. Pretty much all of the revolving door musicians that have been in Faster Pussycat over the years have also been in the Newlydeads over the years.
The Newlydeads first self titled CD is a badass hybrid of Industrial/Glam Metal. They should have just stuck to the original line up of just Taime and Kyle Kyle.
P.S. I Think it's kinda nit picking if a band started out in the late 70's to not include them on a Big 4 of 80's glam metal bands. Take Scorpions for example they were a 70's band but they also created some of the greatest glam metal of the 80's. Same thing with Quiet Riot they had 2 killer 70's glam metal CD's with Randy Rhoads but they also had the excellent "Metal Health" CD in the 80's. It would make perfect sense for somebody to include both of those bands on a Big 4 of 80's glam metal list.
And you did answer my question, The Outsider. So thank you. My ranking might differ slightly. And I suppose I just missed that some were limiting this to 80s bands and others were allowing for a bit of seepage (which is why I suggested the older bands I did . . . 80s glam had its influences and influences others as well). I also appreciated your point re: the current version of FP. I still enjoy seeing them/him live. But you are right . . . it is a diluted version of both bands' sounds/looks nowadays.
Some great posts on what started out as a "hair" (or lack thereof) metal discussion! Another reason I keep coming back here.
Ultraphobic is very good. Less grunge than Belly to Belly but you can still hear Jani "fitting in with the times".
Dog Eat Dog is one of the best albums period. Not just for Warrant. Every song on there is amazing. Jani was a genius. Shame he is gone.
And Cinderella was also amazing. Tom is one very talented man. All of their CD's were fantastic. I think I like their first one the least of all, although Shake Me is in a class of its own. Love that song.